00:03
英語聞き流し10分間名作リスニング、英語テキストとMP3ダウンロード、その他の物語はホームページよりご利用いただけます。
88thpp.com 88thpp.com
What is that noise about? Said the old woman,looking around the room. But her sight was notvery good, therefore when she saw the duckling shethought it must be a fat duck that had strayedfrom home.
Oh, what a prize! she exclaimed. I hope it is nota drake, for then I shall have some duck's eggs. Imust wait and see.
So the duckling was allowed to remain on trial forthree weeks, but there were no eggs.
Now the cat was the master of the house, and thehen was the mistress, and they always said, we andthe world, for they believed themselves to be halfthe world, and by far the better half, too.
The duckling thought that others might hold adifferent opinion on the subject, but the henwould not listen to such doubts.
Can you lay eggs? she asked. No. Then have thegoodness to cease talking. Can you raise yourback, or purr, or throw out sparks? Said the cat.No.
Then you have no right to express an opinion whensensible people are speaking.
So the duckling sat in a corner, feeling very low-spirited, but when the sunshine and the fresh aircame into the room through the open door, he beganto feel such a great longing for a swim that hecould not help speaking of it.
What an absurd idea! said the hen. You havenothing else to do, therefore you have foolish fancies. If you could purr or lay eggs, they wouldpass away.
But it is so delightful to swim about on thewater, said the duckling, and so refreshing tofeel it close over your head while you dive downto the bottom.
Delightful, indeed. It must be a queer sort ofpleasure, said the hen. Why, you must be crazy.
Ask the cat, he is the cleverest animal I know,ask him how he would like to swim about on thewater or to dive under it, for I will not speak ofmy own opinion.
Ask our mistress, the old woman, there is no onein the world more clever than she is. Do you thinkshe would relish swimming and letting the waterclose over her head?
I see you don't understand me, said the duckling.
We don't understand you? Who can understand you, Iwonder? Do you consider yourself more clever thanthe cat or the old woman? I will say nothing ofmyself.
Don't imagine such nonsense, child, and thank yourgood fortune that you have been so well receivedhere.
Are you not in a warm room and in society fromwhich you may learn something? But you are achatterer, and your company is not very agreeable.Believe me, I speak only for your good.
I may tell you unpleasant truths, but that is aproof of my friendship. I advise you, therefore,to lay eggs and learn to purr as quickly aspossible.
I believe I must go out into the world again, saidthe duckling.
03:04
Yes, do, said the hen.
So the duckling left the cottage and soon foundwater on which he could swim and dive, but he wasavoided by all other animals because of his uglyappearance.
Autumn came, and the leaves in the forest turnedto orange and gold, then, as winter approached,the wind caught them as they fell and whirled theminto the cold air.
The clouds, heavy with hail and snowflakes, hunglow in the sky, and the raven stood among the reeds, crying, croak, croak. It made one shiver withcold to look at him. All this was very sad for thepoor little duckling.
One evening, just as the sun was setting amidradiant clouds, there came a large flock ofbeautiful birds out of the bushes. The ducklinghad never seen any like them before.
They were swans, and they curved their graceful necks, while their soft plumage shone with dazzlingwhiteness.
They uttered a singular cry as they spread theirglorious wings and flew away from those coldregions to warmer countries across the sea.
They mounted higher and higher in the air, and theugly little duckling had a strange sensation as hewatched them.
He whirled himself in the water like a wheel,stretched out his neck towards them, and uttered acry so strange that it frightened even himself.
Could he ever forget those beautiful, happy birds?
And when at last they were out of his sight, he dived under the water and rose again almost besidehimself with excitement.
He knew not the names of these birds nor wherethey had flown, but he felt towards them as he hadnever felt towards any other bird in the world.
He was not envious of these beautiful creatures,it never occurred to him to wish to be as lovelyas they.
Poor ugly creature, how gladly he would have livedeven with the ducks, had they only treated himkindly and given him encouragement.
The winter grew colder and colder, he was obligedto swim about on the water to keep it fromfreezing, but every night the space on which he swam became smaller and smaller.
At length it froze so hard that the ice in thewater crackled as he moved, and the duckling hadto paddle with his legs as well as he could, tokeep the space from closing up.
He became exhausted at last and lay still andhelpless, frozen fast in the ice.
Early in the morning a peasant who was passing bysaw what had happened.
He broke the ice in pieces with his wooden shoeand carried the duckling home to his wife.
The warmth revived the poor little creature, butwhen the children wanted to play with him, theduckling thought they would do him some harm,
so he started up in terror, fluttered into themilk pan, and splashed the milk about the room.
Then the woman clapped her hands, which frightenedhim still more.
He flew first into the butter cask, then into themeal tub and out again.
What a condition he was in!
The woman screamed and struck at him with the tongs, the children laughed and screamed and tumbledover each other in their efforts to catch him, butluckily he escaped.
The door stood open, the poor creature could justmanage to slip out among the bushes and lie downquite exhausted in the newly fallen snow.
It would be very sad were I to relate all themisery and privations which the poor little duckling endured during the hard winter,
06:03
but when it had passed he found himself lying onemorning in a moor, amongst the rushes.
He felt the warm sun shining and heard the larksinging and saw that all around was beautifulspring.
Then the young bird felt that his wings werestrong, as he flapped them against his sides androse high into the air.
They bore him onwards until, before he well knewhow it had happened, he found himself in a largegarden.
The apple trees were in full blossom, and thefragrant elders bent their long green branchesdown to the stream, which wound round a smoothlawn.
Everything looked beautiful in the freshness ofearly spring.
From a thicket close by came three beautiful whiteswans, rustling their feathers and swimminglightly over the smooth water.
The duckling saw these lovely birds and felt morestrangely unhappy than ever.
I will fly to these royal birds, he exclaimed, andthey will kill me because, ugly as I am, I dare toapproach them.
But it does not matter, better be killed by themthan pecked by the ducks, beaten by the hens,pushed about by the maiden who feeds the poultry,or starved with hunger in the winter.
49
Then he flew to the water and swam towards thebeautiful swans.
The moment they espied the stranger they rushed tomeet him with outstretched wings.
Kill me, said the poor bird and he bent his headdown to the surface of the water and awaiteddeath.
But what did he see in the clear stream below?
His own image, no longer a dark grey bird, uglyand disagreeable to look at, but a graceful andbeautiful swan.
To be born in a duck's nest in a farmyard is of noconsequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan's egg.
He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow andtrouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so muchbetter all the pleasure and happiness around him,for the great swan swam round the newcomer andstroked his neck with their beaks as a welcome.
Into the garden presently came some littlechildren and threw bread and cake into the water.
See, cried the youngest, there is a new one, andthe rest were delighted and ran to their fatherand mother, dancing and clapping their hands andshouting joyously, there is another swan come, anew one has arrived.
Then they threw more bread and cake into the waterand said, the new one is the most beautiful ofall, he is so young and pretty.
And the old swans bowed their heads before him.
Then he felt quite ashamed and hid his head underhis wing, for he did not know what to do, he wasso happy, yet he was not at all proud.
He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the mostbeautiful of all the birds.
Even the elder tree bent down its boughs into thewater before him, and the sun shone warm andbright.
Then he rustled his feathers, curved his slenderneck and cried joyfully from the depths of hisheart, I never dreamed of such happiness as thiswhile I was the despised ugly duckling.
